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Completing my first marathon brought a flood of congratulatory messages.
While I'm grateful for everyone's kindness and generous praise, I know I was still a little short of my goal. Looking back to when I first decided to compete, I wasn't chasing any specific results. I signed up for the training plan purely because I wasn't good at running, and I hoped that my compulsion to tick boxes would force me to commit to training. My coach was quite conservative when she first gave me the training plan, so in the early stages of training, I always felt useful and was quite pleased with myself.☺️
In the later stages of training, although there weren't too many painful moments (or perhaps I'm just forgetful?), the feeling of living on the edge was very strong. With the training plan taking priority, sleep, work, and travel leisure were compressed. Luckily, during the preparation period, I began to really enjoy training alone. I didn't feel lonely; in fact, I enjoyed the high efficiency of it.
Many people said breaking 4 hours for a first marathon is amazing. On one hand, I was very happy to finish on a high note, and on the other hand, I just felt that this result was well-deserved. That being said, 5% of my achievement on race day came from luck. After investing so much time in training and sacrificing so much, I am grateful that the god of luck was still with me until the end.
I brought one less packet of electrolytes, so I ended up taking half a packet of Maurten every hour, and drank at every water station and Pocari Sweat station. No cramps, lucky!
My tibialis anterior was tight during the first 5km downhill. I tried shifting my center of gravity upwards, and it resolved. Lucky!
After 25km, my neck was very, very sore. So sore that I wanted to stop. I kept reminding myself to lower my head slightly when breathing and to look straight ahead. This didn't resolve, but I pushed through. Lucky!
At 26km, I had a stitch on my right side. I tried to inhale deeply and send the air to the painful area, adjusting until it resolved at 30km. Lucky!
Although my rib fascia was aching for four days after the race (how hard did I push?)🤣;
After 30km, my left ankle felt particularly sensitive, slightly swollen and sore. I also felt a lot of tightness in my hamstrings, fearing cramps. I slowed down a little and reminded myself to shift my center of gravity back to my core. At this point, I understood what everyone says: the full marathon officially begins.
I returned to the finish line with a full heart and an intact body. Because of the 32 turns in the Tokyo Marathon, everyone runs a bit extra. I ended up running 42.8km, which I heard qualifies me for the "ran a little less" club. Lucky!
On the train ride to Taichung, I kept thinking about what the Tokyo Marathon meant to me. It seemed to be more than just completing a full marathon. Simply put, it's "resilience."
Just training for a full marathon elevated my level of resilience in various roles: as an athlete, as a worker, and in facing the quality of my own life.
It wasn't an overnight success, but an accumulation of facing and overcoming challenges again and again, finding the strength to move forward amidst fatigue. Every kilometer on the course was full of stories. Thinking about 18 weeks of training, and then feeling the passion and cheers from the spectators, made me just want to keep going.
Thank you, Tokyo Marathon. You only understand once you've run it — passion, emotion, and pure enjoyment!
- The Tokyo Marathon was more than just a race. I didn’t just run the distance—I collected unforgettable moments of passion, resilience, and achievement.
Crossing the finish line, all the training, sweat, and struggles suddenly felt worth it.
Will I do it again? Yeah most likely :)
Wearing FLIPSHIP SINGLET Tie-Dyed
FAITH TRAIL SHORTS 5” Tie-Dyed AERO®
Koru Homecoming Socks
